Cannabidiol has gained traction as a drug with promise thanks to its perceived pharmacological effects, including anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-cancer properties. Cannabidiol has no adverse effects like addiction or hallucination. CBD may have high potency, but oral CBD products only have low bioavailability because of cannabidiol’s water solubility, metabolism, and gastric instability. Thus, the creation of alternative cannabidiol delivery methods has the potential to overcome oral delivery shortcomings related to biopharmaceuticals.
Alternative CBD Delivery Limitations
A paper from a group of researchers published in Pharmaceutics evaluated the efficacy of nano transfersomes for successful CBD delivery through the so-called rectal route. Researchers looked at routes of alternative cannabidiol administration, like oromucosal, transdermal, intranasal, and pulmonary to make cannabidiol’s therapeutic effects as great as possible. However, many drawbacks are related to those administration routes that shifted the attention to other routes, like the rectum-related route.
Transmucosal drug delivery through that route is becoming more prominent among patients with palliative care. A drug’s rectal delivery can facilitate its local action and systemic absorption, which possibly benefits certain patient groups, like those with dysphagia/ aphagia.
Rectal delivery can also considerably reduce liver metabolism, resulting in better bioavailability. However, it is a route associated with incomplete or irregular drug absorption thanks to the smaller surface area available for microbial degradation and absorption in the area related to the rectum.
Rectal CBD Administration Based On Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology-based drug administration strategies can aid in achieving more predictable and optimized absorption of drugs from the part of the lower gastrointestinal tract. A nano-formulation can aid in reducing systemic toxicity with target-based delivery of drugs and can work in the form of diagnostic nanoplatforms for colonic disease management.
Lipid-based nanocarriers, specifically, are more appropriate for developing systems of drug delivery through the said route as those can be made functional with active targeting substances and can permit controlled drug release.
Researchers looked at how feasible using nano transfersomes is in the form of a rectal colloid type for a stabler, more preferential absorption cum release of botanical therapeutic cannabidiol through the route. Researchers used transfersomes in the form of the lipid nanocarrier in the study because of their biocompatibility.
The study showed that nano CBD transfersomes could be embedded in a colloidal enema or suppository for stable rectal CBD administration in patients with palliative care. However, it is vital to perform in-vivo tests with a suitable cannabidiol control to show the benefit related to transfersomes for cannabidiol delivery comprehensively.
